


Born Bad

by ChaosWriting



Series: Goodnight, Demonslayer [1]
Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, F/M, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Swap!AU, Witcher!Jaskier, Yennefer Kicks A Witcher In The Balls, Yennefer-centric, Yens Chronically Ill, bard!yennefer, mage!geralt, no beta we die like witchers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:33:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23400004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosWriting/pseuds/ChaosWriting
Summary: Yen is human enough, she can pass easily, and she may be a little paranoid, especially for a bard, but she has been hurt enough times.Getting a witcher bodyguard should have made her safer, not put her in more danger. So why isn't she leaving?
Relationships: Jaskier | Dandelion/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Series: Goodnight, Demonslayer [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683244
Comments: 19
Kudos: 60





	Born Bad

Yen sings with her music, singing about monsters that may or may not exist, and really, she does not care. As she sings, she shoots glances at the men looking at her, lusting over her. It’s humiliating in a way living in the barn hadn’t been, but she needs to make her coin somehow, especially when her lute is falling apart, barely holding itself together, and the sound getting worse with every song she plays. She needs to save money for both a horse and a new lute, and unfortunately for her limp, a better lute would surely help her income. She can survive by walking just a little longer. 

She finishes her set and collects her money, it’s not a lot, but it will do for now. She can’t afford a room right now, and her legs are screaming at her to _sit down, please_. She looks the tavern over, no empty spots, but she can also spot the only man who has not been cat calling her, and there is room at his table, swinging her lute over her shoulder, and picking up her crutch, she moves towards him. The cat calling stops the moment she sits down, and the tavern falls silent, holding their breath.

Two swords on his back, fully decked out in armor, and those yellow eyes that stare at her in confusion. The witcher looks with furrowed brows as he eats his broth.

The only tension in the room is coming from the people watching them, and Yen feels more at ease near this witcher than she has near anyone else. The witcher blinks -is he seeing through her glamour?- and he places his bowl down. 

“You know-” And his voice is a lot less gruff than she expected, and the tone to it can be described as either mocking or playful. It’s best not to think about it. “-the creatures in your song don’t exist.” He says, and Yen decides that she is definitely being mocked.

“It gets people listening, and it pays, doesn’t it?” She cuts back, sharper than she is used to, despite knowing this man could easily hurt her. The man bares his teeth in the imitation of an awkward smile -witchers, don’t have feelings-. 

“That it does, miss bard.” The conversation dead ends, and people have stopped paying attention to them, so now Yen can easily slip out without being followed. They respectfully not at each other, and maybe, Yen thinks, for just a moment, that witchers being mindless, child stealing beasts is wrong.

She’s not too far on the path to the next village when there are footsteps behind her, and she tenses. She’s a slow walker, someone could have easily caught on and decided to corner her somewhere without civilisation. She can’t grab her dagger without being obvious, so she must rely on kicking first-

The footsteps are nearly behind her now, and with her good knee, she knees the traveller in the balls. The traveller stumbles two steps back and- it’s the witcher, she just kicked a witcher in the balls and she is going to die here.

“Fuck.” He says. “I feel like I deserved that. Sorry for scaring you.” He chuckles, and she wonders since when witchers show emotion. A glance at the medallion confirms this is not a Cat, but a Griffin. “I wanted to ask where you were headed alone, there’s been a lot of grain stolen in the area.”

“And you think it might have been me?” She motions to herself. She’s still tense, but the witcher keeps walking, looking behind him to see if she follows. She does.

“Unless you’re secretly Sylvan, I don’t think so.” He walks slower to keep pace with her. “I was merely worried for your safety, but it seems you can handle yourself. That was a strong kick.”

“Do all witchers talk this much?” Yen asks and the man chuckles. “Sorry about the kick, by the way.” Why is she apologizing? He is the one that frightened her, this monster- but he doesn’t look like a monster, in fact, he looks at her with something she hasn’t seen before. He looks very human, he doesn’t have scars visible on his face, and if it weren’t for the eyes, he might as well have been a human dressed like a witcher.

“It’s fine. I talk this much because you’re the first person to talk back.” He winks at her -friendly, not flirty- and she can see him slowly becoming less tense, less like she’ll yell at him at any moment, or like she’ll attack him. He’s been lonely, and, finally having a proper conversation with someone who isn’t trying to flirt with her, or whatever passes for flirting by drunkards, Yen can admit she has been too.

She’s a bard, she’s good with words, but her throat suddenly feels dry. “Do you think I could follow you?” She asks, and she feels like backtracking but she can’t, because she already started this. “For story inspiration?” 

“I feel like you don’t know who I am.” The witcher says.

“Then tell me.” She says.

“I am Julian.” The man says, and suddenly he doesn’t look that young anymore, he looks like he has seen too much and Yen holds her breath. “The Mage Slayer?”

There is a long silence. “Then it’s good that I am not a mage, I suppose.” Yen eventually says, and she still follows. “I’m Yen.” She holds out her hand for him to shake, and he takes it, however, instead of shaking it, he brings her hand to his lips, and kisses the knuckles. “A pleasure to meet you.”

They keep walking to the fields, which takes longer because of Yen, but Julian doesn’t seem to mind, in fact, he seems delighted to have someone be able to hold a conversation with.

This is not what Yen expected when she heard of The Mage Slayer, she expected someone scarred and bitter, but Julian seems to be anything but.

They’re still talking when Julian there is a loud ‘thud’ and Julian takes a step backwards, signing something into the air, there’s a small dent on his forehead and before Yen can take a closer look, the both of them are surrounded by a forcefield, causing the second rock to bounce off before it can even hit Yen. 

Julian kneels down and picks the rock up, studying it. “We just want to talk!” He yells.

“Stay back,” He says to her. “I don’t know how many there are, and they don’t seem peaceful.” 

The barrier lowers and Julian walks forward, only to immediately get tackled by something, Yen gets out her dagger and then- nothing.

She wakes up to Julian struggling to undo their binds, unable to make a sign. “I don’t suppose you have a plan to escape?” Yen asks, and she doesn’t have the energy to move, the bindings making her shoulders ache and she just wants to lie down for a full day and do nothing-

“A lot of luck?” Julian suggests, and despite the tiredness in her head and how the world feels like her head has been stuffed between two pillows, she smiles.

“Humans.” Someone barges into the room, and begins yelling in a language Yen has never heard, and Julian speaks back. She can hear the kick when it lands, and the punch.

When she gets kicked in her side, she screams, loud enough to make the elf pause. She long since stopped crying, since it never got her anywhere, but she can feel the tears prickling.

In full view of Yen the woman -elven- leans against the wall and begins coughing.

“You’re sick.” Julian says, and it’s not in response to the beating they both just recieved, however right it may be.

“How terrible.” Yen says, with only the slightest hint of empathy, and mostly sarcasm. Hooved footsteps -the Sylvan- and a different pair of boots, that must belong to an elf.

An elf who comes into her view as he helps the woman, checking up on her. He looks them over, and the Sylvan speaks first.

“This is Filavandrel, King of The Elves.” The Sylvan explains.

“Not by choice.” He says.

“You were stealing for them.” Yen and Julian say at the same time, and Yen keeps phasing in and out of the explanation given.

“What’s two humans in the ground when countless elves have died?” She hears, vaguely. 

She hadn’t heard Julian growl before this, but he does, and she can feel it make his body tremble, just a little. “One human, and you should let her go.” 

“Not human.” Yen says, attempting to use her mouth again. They keep talking. She needs to be louder. “Not human.” She tries again, and they look at her.

“My earring.” Yen motions, already feeling sick from the movement, her eyes are closed. She opens them. “The left one, take it off.”   
  
“And why would we do that?” The woman snarls, and Yen grabs Julians hand, and she squeezes. He squeezes back. Her eyes are closed again, she opens them again.  _stay awake stay awake stay awake_

“Issa glamour.” She says, her heart is beating rapidly. She needs to get her mouth to work properly again.

The elves eye her waringly, but do as she asks, the glamour falls, and while at first their faces contort in disgust, she can see the realisation wash over them in her spotted vision.

“Half elf.” One of them says.

“Quarter.” Yennefer corrects and then she groans in pain, the kicks really hurt her, and she coughs up some blood. Her grip on Julian’s hand loosens.

“Yen? Yen?” Julian sounds distressed, frantically tugging at their bindings, and it's nice to have someone worrying about her, but she can’t focus on the feeling for long enough to enjoy it, because her mind keeps going back to pain.

“Untie them.” Filavandrel says.

“Hey, birdie.” Yen leans her head back against Julian, her eyes fluttering close. She feels like she is falling. “I’m just going to take a quick nap.”

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is witcher-and-decay, please come take a quick look!
> 
> This title from Voltaire's album "Then And Again"


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